Ten Things you Need for the Perfect Home Theater

Creating a home theater is a combination of getting the right basic video and sound elements in place along with stylish novelty type items that are associated with theaters. You want your home theater to be an interesting work of interior design as well as functional setting in which you can watch movies or play games. Modern furniture and lighting can add the final touches to this interesting recreation area. The following ten items are ones that can be used to create an effective and enjoyable home theater.

Projector
Quite frankly, I can’t remember the last time I walked into a theater and they had a LED TV rather than a projector. A TV does not a home theater make. Get yourself a good, bright and quiet 1080P projector. There are even 3D models available. You may have a BluRay player or some other player or projection system. There are a number of video projection systems available as well and these often provide excellent picture quality. Select the projector that works for your budget and that has the best picture quality possible. You want a home theater to be outstanding from a video and sound standpoint if possible. It should be more visually and sonically impressive than ordinary TV watching or computer use.

Screen
If you are using a projection system you will need a screen. These are often simply silvery grey surfaces that are made with materials to reflect light in an especially balanced fashion. They may come with the video projection system you purchase or can be purchased on their own. A white wall can be used as well, but the qualities of ordinary paint are not necessarily ideal for the best picture quality and contrast, so if possible get a screen. It is designed for the purpose and will thus give the best quality. A projection screen also creates the theater like quality so is often preferable to an ordinary television even if it is high definition.

Subwoofers
Subwoofers are separate sound projection equipment to ordinary speakers and are designed to produce especially low tones. They are often placed in front of and below whatever screen you are using. These give a sonic depth and force that goes beyond ordinary speakers so they really give the set a movie theater feel. Subwoofers can be fairly expensive and are not an absolute necessity, but if you do have the room in your budget to incorporate them they are highly recommended.

Speakers
The speakers themselves will supply the ordinary low, midrange, and high sound projection for the system. Often people enjoy a surround sound sensation in a theater – a sense that the sound is all around the viewer. Most home theaters thus have at least four speakers and may have even more. Two are usually placed in front facing the audience and two are placed at the back facing them from the other direction (i.e. facing their backs). The speakers should be of good quality and fidelity. Again budgetary concerns will enter in here, but try to get the best equipment for the money you are able to spend.

Receiver/Amplifier
The receiver routs the sound to the various speakers, subwoofers, and possibly for video. A receiver is also sometimes known as, or combined with, an amplifier because it is responsible for amplifying sound output. For instance if you have a DVD player projecting onto a projector screen, the video would be routed to the projection system itself and the sound would be sent to the receiver so as to be amplified and in turn sent to the speakers. There are also integrated receiver/amplifiers that can process both video and sound.

Massage Chair
A massage chair can really provide a home theater system with a luxury feel. In general you want your theater to have chairs that provide some experience that is above and beyond merely sitting. A massage chair does just this. Watching a movie while receiving a massage can be a great experience. Most of these chairs are recliners that allow you to really stretch out and relax.

Popcorn Machine
Popcorn is a classic part of the movie tradition. Everybody loves a nice buttery bucket of popcornas they watch their favorite features. And we are all familiar with those large glassed in popcorn machines that are busily popping behind the counter. These can be purchased for home use too and are an essential part of home theater décor. They will provide you with great popcorn to munch and add authenticity and visual interest to your home theater setup as well.

Belt Stand
A belt stand, which is a vertical pole on a dome like foot that dispenses a belt which is used in theaters to indicate where a movie goer should buy their tickets, is a great touch that really gives authenticity to a home theater. These are so familiar to people from their experiences in movie theaters that they will instantly give credibility and realism to the home theater décor. Getting a belt stand and putting it by the door, whether or not you use it, is a great home theater interior design idea.

Soda Vending Machine
Finally, you might want to put a soda vending machine
in your home theater. These are often found in movie theaters and can be purchased in smaller sizes for home use. Keep these well stocked so that you can sip a nice fizzy bottle or can of soda while you watch the feature.

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